If you compare them with the rest of the Greek office developments they are surely magnificent and one of the few modern faces of Athens. It is not by accident that many major companies and multinationals have their headquarters in Babis buildings.

First, you may also see a list I compiled in Emporis.com by clicking HERE. Most of them, especially the ones related to commercial property and office buildings.

Second, allow me some lengthy comments here as BV appears to be a controversial figure in the press and media in Greece as over the years many things have been written about this personality from Filiatra Messinias in Pelloponnese, including a minimal amount of bad-mouthing references from architecture magazines as well as a number of positive ones, mostly from lifestyle ones.

To have a basis for discussion, a short reference from my "definitive" Athens skyscrapers thread includes the following:

________________________________________________________Since 1985, many old and new architects started to use glass in their buildings displacing concrete or marble as the primary exterior cladding materials. However, the biggest impact to what even remotely might resemble the new and modern business quarters of other historic European cities was made by a particular company still bearing the name of its founder, the Bavis Vovos SA .

Babis (or Charalambos) Vovos is one of the type of charismatic persons known with the term self-made. Originally from Filiatra, a town in Messinia, Pelloponese, (where, -unbelievable!!!- there is a scaled-down model of the Eiffel Tower!!!, so, there HAS to be something about this place after all ), this guy made it first to the Athens National Technical University (Μετσόβειο Πολυτεχνείο ) to study civil engineering. He finished his studies while working at the same time and after some years of hard work he started his own company. His early works include among others a 12-storey residential in Pouliou street in Ampelokipi which for quite some time accommodated some departments of the Ministry of Environment and Public Works as well as many others. The most famous of his early works may be the 8-storey "Atrium" business and shopping centre in Charilaou Trikoupi street and others in the late 1970's. However, the real turning point for the man's career came with the completion of the Atrina Centre (1980) which, as mentioned earlier was the last "real" skyscraper completed in Athens. This building signified the movement of Babis Vovos's activities in Kifissias Avenue where, for almost a quarter of a century continued to work on mainly lowrise constructions including the Agora Center (1983), which was awarded an International Construction Award in 1990, the Polis, the Monumental Plaza (1998), and the 1 Kifissias Avenue Complex (2002).

One of the reasons that I like this guy is that he is a NIMBYs buster. He has won ALL the legal battles against him and thanks to him, Kifissias Avenue was transformed into the decent modern 6-lane boulevard which, albeit lowrise, is able to go on the next stage.

OK, here's the man at work in 1990 in front of the then under construction "Polis Centre". I bet that probably this is one of the pics that he would like everybody to remember him:

And indeed, thanks to Babis Vovos, Ioannis Vikelas (Babis Vovos main architect and, as mentioned above, architect of the Athens Tower), Iason Rizos (Athenaeum Intercontinental Athens), Stelios Aghiostratitis, and MANY MANY OTHERS, Kifissias Avenue and Syggrou Avenue became the new poles of expansion. As mentioned many times in this forum to the information of , Kifissias Avenue leads to the northern suburbs while Syggrou Avenue leads to the South. The characteristic of both sides of these two avenues in part (as well as in many others) are that they indeed
Kifissias Avenue Shots;

- "Polis" complex, in Kifissias Avenue, partial view

-"Babis Vovos" Lowrises in Kifissias Avenue – watch the sign on one of the buildings

____________________________________________________________

After the year 2000, his son, Aris Vovos, also a civil engineer, a race car driver and owner of the Maroussi Basketball team, was appointed and took over a large part, if not all off the BV enterprises. Concurrently, the BV empire started to move to other territories including Syggrou Avenue, the Phaleron Delta, where he built his latest complex, mamely the Babis Vovos Palaion Phaleron Business and Entertainment Complex, next to the indoor Taekwondo Stadium which will eventually become the new Athens Congress and Conferences Centre.

No to go to the crunch of the story:

Babis Vovos has been repeatedly accused for having "destroyed" some settings along major arterial roads, mostly in Kifissias Avenue, around the roundabout junction with the Attica Road, as well as 2 km to the south on the east side of the avenue where most of its constructions are. After a spectacular start which, as mentioned above, gained him recognition and crowned him as the indisputable king of real estate development in Greece, came the first cracks which strengthened his resolve to get what he goes for, but at the expense of bilateral attacks from both the architectural community and the local residential communities. This came after two concurrent realizations.

1. After 1990, ALL BV constructions are nothing but glass boxy buildings with the exception of his Palaion Phaleron, Syggrou and Kifissias - Microsoft buildings. In general, his use of materials as well as the layout of his designs seems to be suffering from constant repetitions, especially his boxy designs of the period 1992-2000.

2. In a number of occasions where it seemed impossible for BV to win a case against the locals and the Council of the State (Συμβούλιο της Eπικρατείας - ΣτΕ) ΒV proved very successful and won the cases with swift and well-timed legal moves.

Because of the above, BV became yet another conspiracy theory icon, if not a rapacious real estate mega-shark who always got what he wanted (Μα δεν υπάρχει κράτος να σταματήσει τους μεγαλοκατασκευαστές κλπ). That was his image that was systematically painted especially by certain newspapers and the press.

My view, as usual, is somewhere in the middle:

BV is nothing more than a shrewd and clever businessman that used the system to his benefit. Once faced with rampant NIMBYs he did not object or offend them personally or collectively (the biggest mistake he could have done, due to the then -and still in cases dominant social and political ideologies) but used the best legal advice possible to his advantage. He also kept a low profile and never made the news, except for his son Aris and his car racing hobbies or a couple of news about his young daughter when she started clubbing a few years ago. From what I can "read" out of what I know of him, he never invoked negative interest or provoke with his actions. He sort of "flew under the radar" and instead of starting an ideological crusade about what he did for a living (and he had the right to, if you asked me), he appeared to be a pragmatist and simply did the best he could under the circumstances. No skyscrapers, no expensive fancy designs which would catapult costs without any economies of scale present due to the small size of the buildings. Just slightly above average in height and size, but with a cost-conscious design pattern used in all of his post 1990 constructions.

Right now, I don't consider BV as something special as far as the novelty of his in-progress constructions is concerned. The Stock Exchange building in Kavalas seems mediocre for such a historic institution. The other projects - Tourist houses in the island of Poros and the like- are not important to me as they do not have any iconic value or size. On the contrary, I wait with anticipation to see the perspective drawings and schematics of his new 70,000sq metres Gross Leasable Space shopping centre which will definitely be some 10,000 sq metres bigger than "the mall" and the biggest in the Balkans and Eastern Europe excluding some Istanbul's malls (some 3 or for of them, not that many though).

Ηοwever, I have a feeling that he may be overcome by new players unless he takes quick action. Dubai Holdings, Latsis, and potentially other companies that may enter the real estate arena, may pose a threat in the future. I want to urge your attention to the fact that up to now, the other big construction players were not interested in real estate that much, and presented some small sized-sporadic projects. However, if Souflias or his successor after the elections decides to free the market off the absurd limits (and yes, the 28 metre height limit is the biggest of these obstacles ), then we should expect many new entrants in the arena and a major re-shuffling of the cards.

Of course, the vigilant observer might point out that it is not in BV favor that all over these years he didn't speak out how absurd the system that he was moving in, was and still is. He didn't express a wish for something bigger and grander that his glass and granite stone covered five to ten-storey buldings that are his trademarks for over a decade. Buildings that have also name-tagged parts of Kifissias Avenue with the derogatory name "Vovopolis".

On the other hand, BV may be deemed almost solely responsible for the image of Kifissias Avenue which still, from the Hygeia to the roundabout junction with Attiki odos, is visually the best we've got in terms of presenting an image of modernity. We can do better, bigger and taller but this is still the best we've got since, in the absence of other major competitors BV was the only one that ventured in a systematic effort to upgrade the image of these areas, alone, subjected to the known legal and social constraints, and it is thanks to him that during the Olympics, Kifissias Avenue presented a decent picture.

Of course, there may be new and bigger players to enter the game which, if certain restrictions are removed, it will make it meaningful for new players to build in Kifissias Avenue (there are some large empty plots... still), or the new so-called "El-Dorados" in Kifissos Avenue, Elaionas, Kavalas Avenue and the like. However, the ones watching the market from the 1980s to this day know that BV carried the cross of the renovation of the office buildings market for decades and also introduced well ahead of the others the now commonplace financial instruments, portfolio appraisal and financing techniques (such as sale and lease-back) that are now commonly in use for the realisation of large projects in Athens (also used for many decades abroad).

Some may claim that BV was as good as a one-eyed king in the kingdom of the blind. Still no-one objects that in his day he was the best. Probably not the best that could have been but still the best, fighting in a barren market landscape that only now shows promising signs of a recovery breaking the embryonic stage of its development...

Another view of the Monumental Plaza complex built by BV in the mid 1990s. This one was taken from "The Mall Athens" terrace at the main entrance.

Nothing pioneering, yet a decent construction at the time which allows paid back in terms of image during the 2004 Olympics.

Let us revive this thread, after all, this controversial construction company appeared to be all we've got during the 1990's and fought with its own style and means to build something decent during the harsh times prior to the Olympics....

I think the architectural design of Babis Vovos building is quite descent. Ok, there is nothing controversial with it, or really innovative. The buildings follow clean lines, seem modern and "important" and host many major Greek and multinational companies.

I haven't seen any European capitals that have something more (in terms of architecture, not quantity), in the average. They might have just a few landmark buildings that are imposing, but in general they follow the same rules.

Taking into account, that there is almost nobody else so prolific, I would argue that Babis Vovos is more an asset to the Athenian Landscape rather than a liability. His business is to provide quality office-space and this is what he does. If somebody else thinks he is better, let us watch him. The market is open and as far as I know there are no architectural limits, except in very limited historical zones.

I would argue that Babis Vovos is more an asset to the Athenian Landscape rather than a liability. His business is to provide quality office-space and this is what he does. If somebody else thinks he is better, let us watch him.

Who can object this?

...and yes, he didn't have any serious competition... before Latsis built the Mall Athens (as well as the rest of the builders that started building shopping centres).

...with the remark though that his buildings could have been a notch more innovative (ένα "κλικ" που λέμε στα Ελληνικά).

I have seen buildings that are far superior architecturally both in Athens and Thessaloniki (for the nymph of the Greek North from images, that is). Lost in side streets and not on display in large avenues.

But I agree, overall he is an asset. If it wasn't for him, Kifissias Avenue wouldn't have had even the nice spots it has today.

Everytime i'm travelling from the airport to my grandma, the taxi drives through the Leoforos Kifissia. Quite all buildings between the OTE-building and the Faros junction are built by Babis Vovos, this script nameplate is on every roof of a building built by Babis Vovos.

I really like their architecture and the modern style which does look very good. So i'd like to know more about Babis Vovos, and every information oder pictures are welcomed!

i hate vovos' architectrure... he is still living in the 80's... there was also a lot in the corner kifisias and alexandras avenue supposed to be a park... and then a building appeared... with the patience of municipality...
emetos

Those buildings are all horribly ugly. They look like they are from 1982 or something. Blocky, short, fat, and ugly. Athens has to get away from this style.
These buildings are not for bragging...they should be examples of how NOT to develop a city in a sustainable way. What a waste of space and opportunity. Greeks have a lot of style, but it's not evident in the new buildings of Athens, that is for sure.
Building this way is destroying the city. They look like suburban "office parks" in Ohio or something.

I was just in Athens for 4 short days due to a family emergency and took the metro many times each day. Now that all Athenians are back in the city from their vacations, the city was full. People everywhere. What my brother and I noticed is how well and fashionably dressed the Greeks (of all ages!) were. Also, they love their nice-looking cars, their top electronic devices, and image is everything! Why can't this attention to detail and style be passed down to new generations of architects?

I'm not sure what u guys find so horrible about these buildings. They wouldn't win any awards, and they're certainly not the most "modern-looking" buildings; but they are well-defined simple buildings with a slight artistic hint to each of them. Their style is one that will not look ugly in the coming years, unlike many "modern-looking" styles - that's often the case. This is another reason I am not entirely depressed about the ban on skyscrapers. What's adventurous and modern-looking today may appear downright ugly in 20 years. I'm not saying that there shouldn't be any "modern-looking" buildings built, because every city needs some new style (such as the new acropolis museum); but it's probably a good thing that Babis Vovos (one of the biggest building designers in Athens) is stylishly conservative rather than overly "modern"-happy.

I Have mentioned this gentleman many times and he truly is a controversial figure in post-war Athens building construction industry. The guys is a civil engineer and not an architect to begin with. His architect is Ioannis Vikelas who surprisingly designed the Athens Tower as well as the Atrina Centre respectively.

I must tell you that whilst BV was a pioneer contractor back in the day and the Agora Centre (1982) by Vikelas and Vittorio Mazzucconi won an international construction prize, the aesthetics of his creations slowly lost their cutting-edge momentum and after the mid-1990s he copy-pasted most of his works (compare for instance the Marfin Bank complex with the Wind one – almost identical).

BV is seen by many as a grabber since he managed to take possession of some very much coveted properties both by the state as well as the local communities and other contractors. Truth is that he found the niche of office construction at a time that due to the absurd construction laws (27-32 metres tops, remember? ) building offices was not the favourite dish for the other, much larger technical construction companies who were so diversified that did not need to build seven-storey glass-coated boxes to survive. He had the economies of scale and the wit to fight the fearsome NIMBYs and the council of the state as long as he stuck to the rule and did not propose anything above 30m after the early 90s (besides the Polis complex presumably, which may be some 30 metres in parts).

Now, BV seems to keep up the pace with the construction of the new mall close to the new PAO FC Stadium in Elaionas. This will be the flagship of his empire with a total of 70k square metres office space, that's 15k bigger than the Mall Athens FYI.

So, if you want my view, my feelings are mixed. On the one hand rumor has it that in order to eliminate the competition, he managed to have Kifissias Avenue being characterized as a "residential zone" while it is the second (if not the first) business centre in Athens, and all that, AFTER he built his own buildings, some of them bending the building code by presidential decree.

Also, additional rumours say that he is a grabber and to be honest, he is the only builder that won the NIMBYs and local interest groups, despite the populist tendencies in many municipalities of Athens (although, living in Greece has made me suspicious against uncontrollable "developments" as well as against the state which practically forbids ambitious construction almost anywhere).

As usual the truth is on the middle. However, I believe that time has come for many new developers to arise. I believe that the stupid construction and building laws deterred many firms from abroad from coming to Greece and for the relevant competition to grow, in which cases BV (and Ioannis Vikelas) might have abandoned this 1970s and 1980s boxy international style way before the turn of the milennium. I mean OK, we honor this architecture as it historically paved the way for some nice buildings BUT biolding boxes in the millennium? I would certainly like to see something better and more flexible in shape and form. And Sure, I would like to see tall buildings since height adds to the form being shaped and allows for a spiritual edification instead of the "crawling" close to the ground like a serpent, which is a characteristic of most of modern Athenian buildings of today.

BV was good for the 80s and 90s when Athens was still in the periphery of Europe. Today we need more. Much more. Any candidates?

Photo: BV Award-winning Agora Centre (1982) as seen from the terrace on "Avenue-Carrefour" mall in Kifissias Avenue. A gem back in the early 80s.

I Have mentioned this gentleman many times and he truly is a controversial figure in post-war Athens building construction industry. The guys is a civil engineer and not an architect to begin with. His architect is Ioannis Vikelas who surprisingly designed the Athens Tower as well as the Atrina Centre respectively.

I must tell you that whilst BV was a pioneer contractor back in the day and the Agora Centre (1982) by Vikelas and Vittorio Mazzucconi won an international construction prize, the aesthetics of his creations slowly lost their cutting-edge momentum and after the mid-1990s he copy-pasted most of his works (compare for instance the Marfin Bank complex with the Wind one – almost identical).

BV is seen by many as a grabber since he managed to take possession of some very much coveted properties both by the state as well as the local communities and other contractors. Truth is that he found the niche of office construction at a time that due to the absurd construction laws (27-32 metres tops, remember? ) building offices was not the favourite dish for the other, much larger technical construction companies who were so diversified that did not need to build seven-storey glass-coated boxes to survive. He had the economies of scale and the wit to fight the fearsome NIMBYs and the council of the state as long as he stuck to the rule and did not propose anything above 30m after the early 90s (besides the Polis complex presumably, which may be some 30 metres in parts).

Now, BV seems to keep up the pace with the construction of the new mall close to the new PAO FC Stadium in Elaionas. This will be the flagship of his empire with a total of 70k square metres office space, that's 15k bigger than the Mall Athens FYI.

So, if you want my view, my feelings are mixed. On the one hand rumor has it that in order to eliminate the competition, he managed to have Kifissias Avenue being characterized as a "residential zone" while it is the second (if not the first) business centre in Athens, and all that, AFTER he built his own buildings, some of them bending the building code by presidential decree.

Also, additional rumours say that he is a grabber and to be honest, he is the only builder that won the NIMBYs and local interest groups, despite the populist tendencies in many municipalities of Athens (although, living in Greece has made me suspicious against uncontrollable "developments" as well as against the state which practically forbids ambitious construction almost anywhere).

As usual the truth is on the middle. However, I believe that time has come for many new developers to arise. I believe that the stupid construction and building laws deterred many firms from abroad from coming to Greece and for the relevant competition to grow, in which cases BV (and Ioannis Vikelas) might have abandoned this 1970s and 1980s boxy international style way before the turn of the milennium. I mean OK, we honor this architecture as it historically paved the way for some nice buildings BUT biolding boxes in the millennium? I would certainly like to see something better and more flexible in shape and form. And Sure, I would like to see tall buildings since height adds to the form being shaped and allows for a spiritual edification instead of the "crawling" close to the ground like a serpent, which is a characteristic of most of modern Athenian buildings of today.

BV was good for the 80s and 90s when Athens was still in the periphery of Europe. Today we need more. Much more. Any candidates?

Photo: BV Award-winning Agora Centre (1982) as seen from the terrace on "Avenue-Carrefour" mall in Kifissias Avenue. A gem back in the early 80s.

funny, never seen this "Agora Center", although i'm quite every year for buying things in the Carrefour there...strange! but this building, i don't like it. And i didn't say that i like all buildings of BV, but some are nice and some are terrible! but good that there's no other company doing this things, it's a good chance for new inovative people doing the same things.

What my brother and I noticed is how well and fashionably dressed the Greeks (of all ages!) were. Also, they love their nice-looking cars, their top electronic devices, and image is everything!

you make that sound like a good thing. i'd say Greeks 'love' of these things is eating away at the fabric of their society. btw, what top shelf electronic devices? most Greeks still dont' even own computers. go check the census figures; it's stubbornly hovering around 40-45% last time i checked.

anyway, that building is OK. nothing special, but nothing terrible either.